Spike Lee has always been a filmmaker who is willing to critique other people’s art. And when you’re Christopher Nolan and you released one of the biggest films of 2023, you can expect everyone to have an opinion. So, it makes sense that the outspoken Lee would have something to say about “Oppenheimer.”
In a new interview with the Washington Post, Spike Lee talked about Christopher Nolan’s massively popular (both critically and commercially) film, “Oppenheimer.” And though he has great things to say about the film, there is one bit of criticism he feels is warranted, given the subject of the film and its run-time.
“And Chris Nolan with ‘Oppenheimer,’ you know, he’s a massive filmmaker. Great film. I showed [‘Dunkirk’] in my class,” said Lee. “And this is not a criticism. It’s a comment. How long was [‘Oppenheimer’]? If it’s three hours, I would like to add some more minutes about what happened to the Japanese people. People got vaporized. Many years later, people are radioactive. It’s not like he didn’t have power. He tells studios what to do. I would have loved to have the end of the film maybe show what it did, dropping those two nuclear bombs on Japan.”
Now, don’t just assume that Spike Lee is here to take a shot at Nolan. Lee understands that everyone is entitled to their own opinion about art, and the filmmaker knows that Nolan would likely have some critiques of Lee’s greatest works, as well.
“Understand, this is all love,” he added. “And I bet he could tell me some things he would change about ‘Do the Right Thing’ and ‘Malcolm X.’”
That said, what Lee noticed about “Oppenheimer” isn’t something that is completely out of the blue. One of the most common criticisms with Nolan’s film is the lack of discussion surrounding the devastating effects of the bomb created in the film. Of course, the film really is about the man, Oppenheimer, and not a comprehensive overview of the politics and wars of the time. So, in that sense, Nolan probably didn’t feel the need to add even more to the film to discuss those things Lee pointed out. But that doesn’t mean Lee’s opinion is invalid.
“Oppenheimer,” shockingly, is still in theaters now.
